Kingwood Town Hall, Part II: Updates on 13 More Flood Mitigation Projects

10/2/25 – Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger’s Town Hall Meeting on 9/30/25 contained updates on more than 20 infrastructure projects. Yesterday, I discussed three projects related to the Lake Houston Dam: the Gates, Repair, and Replacement Projects.

Today, let me focus on 13 more. They include the Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District; the Kingwood Diversion Ditch; Houston Public Works drainage and bridge projects; and San Jacinto River Authority efforts.

Diversion Ditch and Lake Houston Dredging/Maintenance District

State Representative Charles Cunningham focused on a variety of topics including tax cuts, crime, bail reform, and the Harris County toll-road surplus. He also talked about $100 million that he helped secure in state and federal funding for the new flood gates on Lake Houston and $5 million for the Kingwood Diversion Ditch Project which is now in final design.

Then he focused on HB 1532, his bill to create a Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District. The bill will create a perpetual dredging program financed primarily by sale of the spoils. That will help control sediment buildups that reduce the conveyance of the river, thus contributing to flooding. It will also help restore the storage capacity of the lake itself, improving water supply for a growing population.

Cunningham told me before the meeting that his next priority is to get the Dredging District organized and operational now that the legislative session is over.

He put the dredging district in perspective by saying, “That starts to put us in control of our own destiny regarding flooding. You know, our motto here in Kingwood is The Livable Forest. And we want to make sure that we continue to make it livable. And that dredging bill is going to do that for us.”

Houston Public Works Drainage and Bridge Projects

Later, Ryan Prillman from Houston Public Works discussed a number of drainage and bridge projects that will improve the flow of water (and traffic) in Kingwood.

He began with the Kingwood Drive and Walnut Lane Bridges over the Kingwood Diversion Channel. Estimated cost is $6 million, although the construction start date has not yet been set. The bridges are currently in design.

Public Works also plans to replace or rehab the two pedestrian bridges over Bens Branch at Kingwood Drive starting in Spring 2026.

They expect to finish restoring drainage ditches in the Chestnut Ridge area within several months.

Ditto for Drainage Improvements in Sand Creek.

Public Works has also started $18 million worth of repairs to Kingwood’s Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was badly flooded during Hurricane Harvey. The repairs could take two years to complete.

San Jacinto River Authority Efforts

Matt Barrett, Flood Management Manager for the SJRA then reviewed six efforts that have the potential to mitigate flooding.

Their Master Drainage Plan includes 16 projects in 3000 square miles across seven counties upstream of Lake Houston.

Barrett began his presentation with a reminder that in that entire area, only the San Jacinto West Fork currently has a water control dam on it: Lake Conroe.

*The Lake Conroe Dam on the San Jacinto West Fork controls only 15% of all areas flowing into Lake Houston.*

Master Drainage Plan

Barrett then reminded people that the SJRA is not a taxing authority. It has no dedicated funding to fix flooding. It can only facilitate projects by partnering with other entities such as Humble, Houston, and Harris County Flood Control.

One of the first large scale flood-mitigation projects that SJRA worked on was the San Jacinto Mster Drainage Plan in partnership with HCFCD, City of Houston, and Montgomery County. The effort identified 16 large scale projects still in contention for funding. See below.

Birch and Walnut Creek Dams

They included two areas (Birch and Walnut Creeks in green circle above) that are far upstream on Spring Creek. They would be dry bottom detention basins.

SJRA is currently looking for partners to help fund design and construction of the basins.

Sand Traps

Next, Barrett talked about the SJRA’s pilot sand trap study on the West Fork. Goal: to reduce the volume of sediment flowing into the Lake Houston Area.

SJRA’s goal is to work with a sand miner to clean out the trap(s) once they fill up. The study identified several possible sites near the Hallett mine. At the moment, SJRA’s efforts are focused on working with Hallett, using one of their pits no longer in production.

The West Fork has captured the pit in question and is now flowing through it. According to Barrett, SJRA is working to determine if and how the pit and other nearby sites could be used to mitigate sedimentation downstream.

Regional Sedimentation Study

The sediment trap effort is related to a bigger Regional Sedimentation Study. The goals? To determine:

Where does the sediment come from?
What causes it to to run off and go downstream?
Where does it end up?

Said Barrett, “Ultimately, we want to develop a regional sediment management plan that will recommend projects, strategies, best management practices that can help mitigate the flow of sediment downstream and ultimately mitigate flood issues that are caused by sedimentation.”

Lake Conroe/Lake Houston Joint Operations Study

Barrett said, “The goal of this project is to determine the most efficient and safe operation of the two reservoirs in series, both for water supply and flood management purposes. This is especially critical with the upcoming installation of the new gates at the Lake Houston Dam.”

SJRA will support the project, which will include development of an inflow forecasting tool, a gate operations policy, pre-release evaluations, and stakeholder communications.

Upstream Gages

Finally, Barrett discussed a network of gages throughout the region that provide flood warnings. It works with Harris County Flood Control to plan optimum locations. Barrett said, “We’re always looking to add more gauges to that network to have a more comprehensive coverage of the basin.”